“My own?” Ella rose to her feet, her hands flying to her hips. “Please do tell me what it was that I did wrong that you needed to eject me from the room and humiliate me!”
“You were spending a little too long talking to the Duke, and you knew very well that his reason for being here today was not to see you, but to see your stepsisters.”
“I did not spend too long talking to the Duke, Mama, I simply responded to his questions. And I did not demand an introduction, even when your husband so rudely did not make one. It was the Duke’s own actions which sought to rectify his host’s poor manners, not mine.”
“Your stepfather merely forgot that you were there. It was a simple oversight.”
“A simple oversight? No, it was a nasty, insidious way of putting me very much on the outside of this family. He has done it before, and you have seen it, Mama. Why must you defend his actions?”
“Because he is my husband,” Ariadne said with an exasperated sigh.
“And I am your daughter! Does that count for so little?”
“You are just being dramatic, my dear.”
“No, this is not drama, Mama. This is hurt, this is sorrow.”
“Oh, for goodness sake,” Ariadne sounded as if she were at her wits’ end. “But you should not have made yourself so important this afternoon at tea.”
“Make myself important? And how, pray, did I do that?”
“By telling the Duke that you had been unwell.”
“And what was I supposed to say when he asked me why I did not attend the masquerade ball with my own family? Should I have simply told him the truth? Should I have said that my stepfather said I may not go because he was so intent that Patience and Georgiana be given a better chance of finding themselves wedded to the Duke? Should I have been as honest as that?”
“Your stepfather did no such thing.”
“Yes, he did, and you, as always, assisted him. You yourself said that it would overcomplicate things if I were there too; you know you did.”
“We would simply have been too large a party; that is all. And your recent determination to vex your stepfather had not helped in the matter. I did not want you causing problems of any kind at Hillington Hall.”
“When have you ever known me to cause problems anywhere? Why on earth would I?”
“Perhaps you would like the Duke for yourself?”
“I do not, but if I did, would it not be the done thing for my own mother to support it? Do you not want the best for me? Have you not always wanted me to be married away to a wonderful title and a fortune?”
“Oh, so now you decide that this is what you want.”
“No, I am simply pointing out your dreadful double standards, Mama. And I am also pointing out the fact that you have now decided to put Patience and Georgiana, two dreadful young women with appalling manners and no blood tie to you, above your own daughter. How could you? What would my father have said about this?”
“Oh, please do not bring him into all of this,” Ariadne scoffed. “It is his fault that you are as you are. I do not want to hear his name mentioned since he has left me with such a great problem.”
“I can hardly believe I am hearing this, even from a woman like you, Mama.”
“What exactly do you mean by that?”
“Well, you have never been particularly loving, but I would never have expected you to stoop so very low.”
“This is ridiculous; I cannot speak to you when you have no capacity for reason whatsoever,” her mother said and began to turn to leave the room.
“Ah, and now I know finally that I have hit a nerve. For why else would you be running away?”
“I am not running away, I just recognize the pointlessness of this conversation. You really need to have a good long think about what you have done and what you can do to repair it.”
“Then it will not take me long, Mama, for I know that I have done nothing wrong.”
“I will have your dinner sent up to your room this evening,” Ariadne said and continued towards the door.
“I would have expected nothing less,” Ella said with a somewhat unladylike snort. “After all, it is not as if you now see me as one of the family, is it? I wonder that you do not send me down to the cook so that I might eat at the servants’ table.”
“The way you are behaving, I am sorely tempted.” Ariadne turned and fixed her with a glare. “But I do think that it might be a good idea for you to take your meals in your room for a while.”
“It seems that I have played into your hands, Mama.”
“What exactly do you mean by that?”
Ella studied her mother for a moment, wondering if she had ever looked at her with quite that level of animosity before. It was true that Ariadne had never been warm, but she had always been dismissive and a little self-centered, not cruel and so very unjust.
But it seemed to Ella that life at Dandridge Hall was taking a little toll on her mother, as well as herself. Ariadne did not look quite as young and healthy as she had done before. There was darkness around her eyes, and her skin seemed just a little drier. As far as Ella could see, they were the signs of a sleepless night or two.
Ariadne was certainly well turned out, better than ever before, and that was the truth. She had not held back for a moment when spending her new husband’s money on gowns and all manner of adornments. In truth, she had been indulging herself in an almost shameless way since they had arrived. But perhaps that all came at a cost she could never have imagined.
Ariadne was having to keep her daughter down to keep her husband happy, and it seemed that her new husband was not quite so easy to please as he might have led her to believe in the days when he was courting her.
Well, if the new Countess was experiencing a little discomfort here and there along the way, Ella thought that it was nothing more than she was due.
“I think my comment very neatly brought you to take further steps to keep me on the outside of this family. So, I am to eat alone from now on, am I? I am to only eat in my own chamber?”
“No, you may take breakfast downstairs as normal since you always seem to be up before the rest of the household.”
“Oh good, then I will not be in anybody’s way, will I?”
“If you are intent upon feeling sorry for yourself, Ella, then I might just as well agree with you.”
“You might just as well agree with me, Mama, because it is true.”
“I have had enough of this now.” Ariadne turned her back on her daughter, and Ella could not help thinking that she had turned her back upon her in every way.
Ella did not say another word, she simply watched her mother glide out of the room with her exaggerated poise and elegance.
Once again, Ella climbed onto her bed and lay staring up at the ceiling. She did not cry, for there were no more tears left. She felt devastated nonetheless, devastated that her own mother seemed almost to wish that she did not exist.
As much as she did not care for the company of any of the household, to be excluded from sitting down and taking meals with them was something that she found peculiarly painful. She was to be denied their society unless she crossed their paths at any other time in the great hall. How dreadful life had become, and how very quickly.
In the days which followed, Ella forced herself to get used to her new routine. While she ate in her room as instructed, she did not spend too much time over it and did not stay seated afterward to aid her digestion.
Instead, Ella made sure that she always left the room immediately she had eaten and settled herself somewhere in the hall where she could not be ignored. She would not shrink and become invisible just because everybody around her silently demanded it.
At every opportunity, Ella made her way into the drawing room, not to particularly be in the company of her stepsisters or her mother and stepfather, but to let them know that she was alive. She might not have chosen to live in that dreadful mansion, but now that she was there, it was her home. She
would not be confined, and she would not be made ashamed and so uncomfortable that she would hide away in her own chamber. No, she would be a silent thorn in their sides; ever-present.
And, wherever possible, Ella Winfield would make a little mischief. She would take adventure when it presented itself and, if her family continued to ignore her as they seemed to be doing, she was sure that she would get away with it.
After all, how could any of her adventures be known if nobody was looking at her? If nobody paid her an ounce of attention, maybe she could find a way to help herself. Maybe this signalled a freedom of sorts? Albeit a very different sort of freedom and one that she would not really have chosen for herself.
But still, she would have to make of life what she could, for it seemed certain now that she would never be introduced as part of the family at any evening events.
In fact, Ella was certain that she would never be invited; never welcome to partake of the joy and excitement that was her stepsisters’ by right.
And, while she had never given it a great deal of thought before, Ella realized that such sanctions would make it very difficult for her to find a suitable husband for herself, and therefore, a life elsewhere.
But she did not allow the idea that she would become an old maid and trapped within the dreadful walls of Dandridge to make her low; instead, it only made her more determined.
Chapter 13
“At least you are still able to go out in the afternoons, Miss Winfield,” Violet said in a cheerfully as she helped her mistress get ready for an afternoon of bridge at the home of Lady Brightwell.
Ella had played at Lady Brightwell’s home for a few years, only breaking that tradition when her father had first become ill. And then, when he had died and her own period of mourning had enveloped her, Ella had not returned to the afternoons she so enjoyed in Lady Brightwell’s drawing room.
Neither her mother nor stepfather had made any objection to her excursion, likely thinking it to be a very dull affair to which they would not be keen to go. And they also likely thought that nobody of note would attend either, and so it seemed she was safe.
“Yes, they do not seem at all interested in what it is that I do with my time, which is probably a good thing.”
“At least they are not keeping you to the hall, Miss Winfield.”
“Yes, that would be the most dreadful thing.” Ella shuddered. “But I make such a nuisance of myself in the day, haunting them all like some sort of silent specter that they are only too keen to have rid of me. It is only the evenings when I will not be allowed to go anywhere.”
“Probably because they think the Duke will be there, and he will look at you more than Lady Patience and Lady Georgiana because you are more beautiful.”
“Oh Violet, you really are adorable. You say the sweetest things.”
“But it is true, Miss Winfield,” Violet said with a firmness that Ella was beginning to realize formed the basis of the tiny little maid’s nature. “It is only His Lordship’s jealousy which is at the bottom of it all.”
“But if he knew of that curious little meeting I had with the Duke that dreadful afternoon out on the grounds of the estate, he would realize that he has nothing at all to worry about. I cannot think that the Duke would be interested in a tearstained young lady who had been ousted from her own family’s afternoon tea.”
“But perhaps he is; perhaps he is interested.”
“And there is your tender, romantic heart again, Violet.” Ella smiled warmly as her maid set about twisting her hair into the thick and immaculate pleat that she was so very skilled at.
“But if he is a good man, Miss Winfield, might he not have thought that the treatment you received was very poor? And he did stop, after all. Really, I think most gentlemen would simply ride by in a situation like that, not wanting to find themselves in the middle of some family disagreement or other. There are not many that would have the courage to stop; I am sure of it.”
Violet fastened a fine gold chain around her mistress’ neck, so fine that it was only barely visible. It was one that Ella’s father had bought her many years before, and Ella had always loved it for its simplicity. It had a tiny pendant, no bigger than a little fingernail; a small piece of gold hammered into a flat heart.
It looked very well with the dusky pink gown that Violet always liked to see her mistress in. That simple piece of jewelry was just enough; no ostentation, but enough to draw the eye. Violet really was very clever at that sort of thing.
“I had not thought of it in that way, Violet, but I think you are right,” Ella said thoughtfully as she rose from the little seat at her dressing table. “I think that the Duke must have a very fine character indeed to have stopped and checked on my welfare. A very fine character.”
“I wonder if you will ever see him again, Miss Winfield.”
“I think that is very unlikely now, Violet.” Ella laughed. “If the poor unsuspecting man ever turns up at Dandridge Hall again, my stepfather will undoubtedly tell him that I am unable to come down to tea because I have broken my leg or something similar. He will not risk it again, that much is certain.”
“There, you see. He is jealous, just as I said.”
“Violet, you are my one protector on this earth.” Ella squeezed her maid’s hand. “And I thank you for it.”
“Well, William will be your protector too, Miss,” Violet said with a proud smile. “And he is very keen to help in any way he can.”
“How lucky I am to have the two of you. Just think, were it not for you and William, I would have nobody here.”
“You must not think about that. We are here, and that is what matters.” Violet straightened out Ella’s gown. “You look very nice, very nice indeed.”
“Thank you, Violet, I am nicely dressed for my afternoon of bridge, and now I am looking forward to it. I really do appreciate your every effort for me, my dear.”
“Well, you had better make your way down to your carriage, Miss Winfield, before you make me cry.” Violet chuckled, and Ella followed suit.
“Yes, I shall make my way as quietly out of the house as possible before my stepfather comes up with some reason why I might not be allowed out in the afternoons either.”
In the event, Ella did not encounter anybody as she made her way out to the smallest of her stepfather’s carriages.
She was not to be afforded any real luxury at all but laughed to herself when she thought of the night she had happily jumped up into an open cart to sit at William’s side as the two of them raced at breakneck speed out of the Duke of Hillington’s estate and away into the night. In comparison, her stepfather’s smallest carriage certainly was a luxury.
She arrived at Lady Brightwell’s country mansion to a very warm welcome indeed.
“My dear Ella, how long it has been!” Lady Constance Brightwell took both of Ella’s hands in her own. “And I have not set eyes on you since the funeral.”
“It seems like such a long time ago,” Ella said and felt the familiar stab of grief.
“And your mother’s wedding was arranged so quickly that I had not time to get to it. I do hope that you will forgive me, but I had long arranged to visit my nephew in the North, and I did not like to put him off at the last moment.”
“There is nothing to forgive, Lady Brightwell,” Ella said firmly. “For it was a hastily arranged wedding by anybody’s standards.”
“But it is a real treat for me to see you here today, my dear, and to see you looking so well. You must tell me who put that gown together for you, for I have the strongest urge to have it copied in every detail.”
“It is a firm favourite of my maid also, for she seemed always to put me in it.”
“Well, she has picked very wisely, I must say. It seems as if your new maid is so clever. Now then, do come in and let me sit you down with some tea for a while before we play. You have missed so much, and I have lots to tell you.” Lady Brightwell looped her arm through Ella’s and steered her into the drawin
g room.
As always, there were several tables set ready for bridge, and already there were several pairs playing. It was a familiar sight, and the room and its sounds were very comforting to her. It reminded Ella of a time when things were very different, a time when she had happily played bridge, safe in the knowledge that her home was her home, and her beloved father was there waiting for her.
How much had changed since she had last spent a happy afternoon in Lady Brightwell’s company.
“Oh look, my dear,” Lady Brightwell said as she whisked Ella through the room. “Tell me, have you ever been introduced to the Duke of Hillington?”
“The Duke of …?” Ella began a little dismayed.
Kind Ella and the Charming Duke Page 11